Canada qualifies for FIFA U20 Women's World Cup after beating Nicaragua

Canada booked its ticket to the 2026 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup by virtue of its 4-1 win over Nicaragua coupled with Mexico's 4-0 victory over Panama on Saturday at the CONCACAF Women's U20 Championship in Alajuela, Costa Rica.

The eight-team CONCACAF tournament, which runs through June 8 at Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium, will send four CONCACAF sides to the 24-team FIFA U20 World Cup, scheduled for September 2026 in Poland.

Group A at the CONCACAF tournament features host Costa Rica, the U.S., Puerto Rico and Guyana. The top two from each group advance to the semifinals, securing World Cup qualification in the process.

With six points at 2-0-0, Canada and Mexico cannot be caught by Panama or Nicaragua, both pointless at 0-2-0, with one game remaining. The young Canadians play defending champion Mexico on Monday to decide the Group B winner.

Canada has taken part in nine of the previous 11 editions of the FIFA U20 tournament, missing out in 2010 and 2018. The Canadians lost 2-1 to Spain in the round of 16 at last year's FIFA U20 World Cup in Colombia.

Canada had to survive a first-half red card and penalty in dispatching Nicaragua (0-2-0).

Despite being a player down for 80-plus minutes, Canada outshot Nicaragua 30-7 (4-4 in shots on target), had 67.7 per cent possession and a 14-0 edge in corners.

Teegan Melenhorst, Anabelle Chukwu and Liana Tarasco scored for Canada (2-0-0), which also profited from a Nicaragua own goal.

Chukwu, who scored twice in Canada's opening 7-1 Group B win over Panama, added to her Canadian youth international scoring record, previously held by Christine Sinclair. Chukwu now has 37 goals in 39 games from the under-15 to under-20 level.

The 18-year-old from Ottawa, who plays collegiate